The Opening of Amos
An opening word for a people open to all the wrong works, ways and words of a world not open to God.
"The words of Amos, who was among the sheepbreeders of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah, king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam, the son of Joash, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake. And he said: The Lord roars from Zion and releases His thunderings from Jerusalem, the pastures of the shepherds mourn and the top of Carmel withers." (Amos 1:1-2)
What we find in Amos' prophetic vision is a man who has been given a gift to see/hear what others are in the dark on. We need to keep in mind — that hearing in the kingdom of God is seeing. And Amos was able to see — because he heard. Faith comes by news and that news comes by the news God reports to us in His trustworthy message, the word of God.
And anytime that we find that there's a roaring or a thundering that comes from God, something is happening and stirring in the heavens. It is telling us that the atmosphere of the heavens is unstable. Like the rumble and roaring of a coming storm — that naturally warns us in advance that bad weather is near — God is warning the prophet of horrible trouble that is making its way from the judgments pronounced upon them by God. We find that they, like we, were living in unstable times and the Creator is roaring and releasing His thunderings from Zion and Jerusalem. And, creation, like the pastures are mourning and the mountain of Carmel is withering at the sound of it. They've heard the sound before and they know what it means. They will suffer, too, because of the curse commanded by God that will reverse the command given |
